Week 1 Welcome to China

大家好!

It’s crazy to believe that I’ve finally arrived in China. It’s crazy to think that a year ago I was just thinking about coming to China and now I’m here and I couldn’t be happier. Even though it’s only been a week, so much has happened. I’ve already noticed differences between me and the other international students in the program. They love to comment on the Wisconsin accent. However, there are definitely more cultural differences between us and the locals.

The first thing that I noticed is that everyone is extremely nice here for the sake of being nice. I feel like in the U.S. it almost seems like people are being a fake nice and it is the expectation to be courteous. For instance, when we ask people how they are a majority of the time we don’t really care about the answer. This is just something that we say because it’s the “right” thing to say. Here, on the other hand, people truly care about you. They want to know how you are doing and they want to help you out. When I was at the airport, I met a really nice lady who helped me from getting off the plane, getting onto a bus to the other side of the airport, and to baggage. She didn’t have to help me but she chose to. Likewise, all of the coordinators and teachers have been super helpful from helping us order food to helping us set up bus and subway passes. If you get lost, there is someone to help you find your way. It’s reassuring knowing that there are people out there willing to help you.

Another thing that I’ve noticed is that it is extremely hot here compared to Wisconsin. I didn’t expect it to be so hot. However, it can be supposedly sunny with not a cloud in sight but due to the smog it appears to be extremely cloudy. I can only imagine what it would be like without the smog. Probably a lot hotter with the direct sun. Apparently though, Beijing air has been getting cleaner due to the government forcing people to switch from coal to gas. There are also restrictions on who can drive in the city. If you didn’t buy a car in Beijing, your car isn’t allowed into the city unless you have a pass. Passes are good for seven days and you can only get the pass up to twenty times a year. This is meant to reduce traffic into the city as well as clean the air.

I also noticed that there are no dryers anywhere for clothes. We have to hang clothes around our rooms waiting for them to air dry. Also, public restrooms are way different compared to western bathrooms. In our dorm, our bathroom is relatively western except you can’t flush toilet paper down the toilet otherwise it will clog the toilets. However, once you leave the dorms, you see what public bathrooms are really like. They are called squatty potties or just squatties. Basically, there is just a hole in the ground and you just squat down. I think all foreigners have to try a squatty at least once while they are here, but I’m definitely sticking to the bathroom in the dorms.

I’ve had a lot of great food since I’ve been here. My favorite is baozi (包子). My roommate and I get them almost every day. I’ve also tried malatang (麻辣烫) and Peking duck (北京烤鸭). The one thing that is very hard to adjust to is no ice water. All the water here is either boiling hot or room temperature. Even when you go out and order ice water (冰水) you just get room temperature water.

Well, I guess that’s it for now. The more the year unfolds, the more interesting things will happen. For now, my initial impression of China is great and I can’t wait to see how the year unfolds.

再见!

马乐